Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
After the success of Apollo 7, all eyes were on the moon, and sending astronauts into lunar orbit. But the decision to do this in the mission immediately following Apollo 7 was a bold and risky move, based on the perceived status of the Soviet space program, which ultimately paid off. Apollo 8 sent astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders all the way to the moon, the first humans to ever get so far away from Earth. They orbited the moon ten times, gathering an enormous amount of data to inform the selection of future landing sites, and then returned home safely. The famous photo "Earthrise" was taken on this mission, along with many other incredible images of the Earth from deep space, the first such images ever collected.
Script by Jackson Tyler
Watch the whole Apollo Program playlist: bit.ly/ProfDaveApollo
Classical Physics Tutorials: bit.ly/ProfDavePhysics1
Modern Physics Tutorials: bit.ly/ProfDavePhysics2
Astronomy/Astrophysics Tutorials: bit.ly/ProfDaveAstronomy
Mathematics Tutorials: bit.ly/ProfDaveMaths
EMAIL► ProfessorDaveExplains@gmail.com
PATREON► patreon.com/ProfessorDaveExplains
Check out "Is This Wi-Fi Organic?", my book on disarming pseudoscience!
Amazon: amzn.to/2HtNpVH
Bookshop: bit.ly/39cKADM
Barnes and Noble: bit.ly/3pUjmrn
After the success of Apollo 7, all eyes were on the moon, and sending astronauts into lunar orbit. But the decision to do this in the mission immediately following Apollo 7 was a bold and risky move, based on the perceived status of the Soviet space program, which ultimately paid off. Apollo 8 sent astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders all the way to the moon, the first humans to ever get so far away from Earth. They orbited the moon ten times, gathering an enormous amount of data to inform the selection of future landing sites, and then returned home safely. The famous photo "Earthrise" was taken on this mission, along with many other incredible images of the Earth from deep space, the first such images ever collected.
Script by Jackson Tyler
Watch the whole Apollo Program playlist: bit.ly/ProfDaveApollo
Classical Physics Tutorials: bit.ly/ProfDavePhysics1
Modern Physics Tutorials: bit.ly/ProfDavePhysics2
Astronomy/Astrophysics Tutorials: bit.ly/ProfDaveAstronomy
Mathematics Tutorials: bit.ly/ProfDaveMaths
EMAIL► ProfessorDaveExplains@gmail.com
PATREON► patreon.com/ProfessorDaveExplains
Check out "Is This Wi-Fi Organic?", my book on disarming pseudoscience!
Amazon: amzn.to/2HtNpVH
Bookshop: bit.ly/39cKADM
Barnes and Noble: bit.ly/3pUjmrn
